Be God's Family
S3 E32. Isaiah – To Us a Child is Born
This is the Be Gods Light Podcast with Ben Greenbaum and Mark Elsasser and here in 2024 we have been taking a stroll through the Old Testament and we're kind of the place where we're closing out on it really I mean there's some months left and we're in the time of the divided Kingdom, the North called Israel has split away from the South which became known as Judah and we have various kings and prophets that that are ministering in each one and today we're going to look at the prophet Isaiah it seems weird Ben to take one podcast to do Isaiah which is 66 chapters, there's a lot of Isaiah out there so we're going to cover all of it today. Yeah, my Wednesday morning Bible study will find that a little bit complex because I think we spent a year in Isaiah right which and to know that it could have been done in one in one shot would they might come after me for that because at one point they're like when is this going to end. We'll leave a few chapters out today. Fair enough so that they won't have a coup. So actually we're just going to only look at one or two chapters and make some connections. Let's talk about Isaiah a little bit. He was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah. So the northern kingdom of Israel was going on and they were doing their things had lots of nasty old bad kings and had many prophets that were ministering to them and trying to get them on the straight and narrow. But in the south things were give or take for instance during Isaiah's reign. There were four kings, a guy named Jotham who largely did right. He rebuilt the temple. And he was the last 10 years of his reign was the first 10 years of Isaiah's prophecy. And Jotham was followed by a has who did evil and he was 20 years long. Matter of fact, he was a bad dude. He nailed shut the temple doors. He was so into idol worship and pagan worship that he didn't want anybody even going into the temple of God and he nailed him shut. And he sacrificed one of his own sons to a pagan God so he has not good. He was going to talk about him more. And then later there were, there was Hezekiah who did pretty pretty well and then Manasseh who did pretty bad. So there was like all this stuff back and forth going on. You know, Isaiah, when we think about him then we think about a guy who is is called by God to minister. And during some of his seasons, there were people who did well. He was 30 about 30 years that he did pretty well but then rather than 20 years of bad and 15 years of bad. And so it was up and down for Isaiah. And I just want to maybe begin with this question. For you as a pastor. What's it like ministering in the best of times and the worst of times? You know, you got both that are in culture and the world and the church and a community. There are ups and downs. And Isaiah certainly had some ups and downs that we've just heard. So think as you think about being a pastor. Not which is easier but where do you find your rhythm the best and he's really hard edges of life or when things are all copacetic and easy street. Yeah, I think and this isn't meant to sound cliche and I'm not being cliche when I say this. But honestly, in ministry, I think as well as in life, if my identity isn't rooted in Christ, my joy is not found in Christ. Then I'm going to allow the circumstances surrounding me in ministry to form my heart. So in the, you know, whether it's a hard season of ministry or it's a season where, you know, everything seems to be coming up gold. Not allowing either, either extreme really to condition my heart because in the easy, easy times it is. It's, it's, it's easy in essence to become kind of lax a daisical. And in the hard times thinking that that season's never going to end and is this something I really want to continue to give my life to or or whatever. And so for me, it's the constant, the con I mean, again, in ministry as well as it necessitates my identity being rooted in Christ and allowing that identity to inform the rhythm of my life rather than the circumstances that are surrounding me. So put your head down. Do what God's called you to do regardless of what's swirling around you. Yeah. And I think finding joy in that as well. I remember it's probably 12, 15 years ago. I remember going through a really difficult, stressful time in ministry and in life. And it was around Christmas time and I was driving up to see my wife's uncle who lives in Northern Indiana and was snowing and frustrated with the rose and stressed about life, stressed about ministry. And I remember thinking not to be completely morbid, but I remember thinking, dude, you're going to be on your death bed one day. And this time that seems incredibly stressful to you now. You'll look back on differently in the future, knowing that God is present with you, knowing that God is working in and through this to refine you and, and I'm like, why am I so stressed about this? And so after that, I kind of, I don't want to say hyper focus, but just came to the conclusion. It came to the reality. You know, it's like the spirit speaking reality into my heart that, are you going to allow Christ to be your guiding light in life and allow yourself to rest in the sovereign hand of God who loves you? Are you going to entrust yourself to him? Are you going to continue to find angst and to be worried about your present circumstance rather than allowing God to sort it out? And so, allow the spirit to move, to God, to condition your heart, be in prayer, be in the Word, and entrust yourself to, again, God's sovereign leading, God's sovereign hand in life, as well as in ministry, and in the church itself. That's really a good wisdom, because I think too many times that, in general, whether pastors, anybody, we sometimes look at the way the wind's blowing and get really concerned if we think the circumstances around us are going in a direction that we don't like. We're in the middle of an election season here in the US, and it's, I don't know if you know this, but this is an existential election this time. And it always is. Every time, every four years, it's the most important election that we've ever had in the country. That's my memory that dates back to, when I was born in the early 60s, so I really started paying attention in the early to mid 70s. I would say a little bit, I mean, when I was a little kid, Watergate was going on, so I was forced to pay attention to politics. And I think in my lifetime, there's been about an equal number of Republican and Democrat presidents in my years of ministry. It's pretty close to equal number of Republican and Democrat. And so when we get all worked up about the things around us and what are going on, like it's going to end civilization as we know it. Well, so far it hasn't. Yeah. You know, and we're not Venezuela. No, it's for sure. And some people like in Venezuela have it tougher. And so I don't want to minimize that for anyone. So life, I think life's meant to be lived in that sweet spot, like you're talking about of God's call and regardless of the circumstances. So Isaiah, I mean, he's got these ups and downs, so his first 10 years of ministry, things are going pretty well with Jotham. But by Isaiah seven, it says in verse one, when a has, that's the evil king, son of Jotham, son of Yuzai was king of Judah. That's the setting. It's during the reign of the guy who nailed the door shut to the temple. So it wasn't exactly like the priests and prophets were honored during that time. This is a guy who sacrificed his son to a pagan God. I mean, he was all in for paganism for idolatry and not in for God. But at that time, it says in verse one, that king resin of Aram and Pika or Paka, I'm not sure he pronounced that king's name, king of Israel. They joined together. So remember, the north and the south were divided. Israel joined up with Aram, which would be Syria, and marched against Jerusalem. So the beginning of chapter seven, really, the setting is that when the king of Judah, a has, was really worried that he wasn't going to be able to take it. They were, they were afraid. I mean, I love the language in verse two. His people were shaken as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind. That paints a picture of people standing there shaking like they're going to come and kill us and we're in trouble. So it's interesting, you know, because this is a very common scripture, part of this is a very common scripture that we hear at Christmas time. But we don't really pay attention to the rest of it a lot. We want to look at the rest of it a little, at least today, and it's in verse four. This is God now speaking through Isaiah to King Aes, which was going to at least going to become a nasty king. I don't know if he'd nailed the door shut yet or not. I don't know the timeline. And they and God said this to reassure him, be careful. Keep calm. Don't be afraid. Don't lose heart. Because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood. So like the king of Israel and the king of Iran who come to get you are nothing, God said. And there had to be some assurance for King Aes. And then he said in verse 11, ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights. He asked me for a sign and I'll prove myself to you. So I just want to start with that. Like here was a king who was either already living an idolatrous life or would soon and God knew that. And God says, I've got your back. What does this say about God with people like Aes and people like us? Yeah, I think part of it is God reinforcing that his covenantal promises that he made to David. And in that God revealing himself further to the people of Israel that even in the presence of their unfaithfulness, he is faithful. And it's one of those things that we see throughout the Old Testament is God's persistent unrelenting pursuit of his people in his care of the people, which sometimes means this, you know, divine intervention to rescue the people. Sometimes it's divine intervention to discipline the people to draw the people back to himself. But God's ever present care, his unwavering love for the people and his commitment to the promises that he had made to David back in 2 Samuel 7. So this incredible promise of God is going to be lived out and Judah will not go away forever. The Jewish people will not go away forever. That's the context of what's going on here. And God says, ask me for a sign. Interestingly, the king is in this conversation and says to you, Isaiah the prophet to tell God, I will not ask for a sign. I will not put the Lord to the test. He said in verse 12. So he seems to have this like humble heart, at least in this exchange, what's going on with him. And it's in that response. It's an interesting response that Isaiah speaks and says, beginning in verse 13, here now, you house of David, as you just described. That's the kingdom of Judah in the south. Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Verse 14, it's the famous one. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel. Now, 700 years later in the book of Matthew, when Joseph is being told, hey, you're going to have a baby and your fiance is going to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. He says, don't be afraid and quotes this verse. Matthew chapter 1, verse 23, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us. So let's process this little bit. I mean, we've got the time of Isaiah and you spent a year on Isaiah. So I'm going to consider you the resident expert in the room, at least. Much of that information has been supplanted by Jeremiah, which we have now been in for a long time. So maybe if you ever thought about picking a shorter book, like one of these one chapter books, I can guarantee you that the Wednesday morning Bible study that I lead will make that happen because I did revelation. So I have a feeling that next time around they're going to make me do like Obadiah or Philemon or 2nd and 3rd John or something like that. I don't know. They seem to be pretty hardcore. They're in it. They're in it. It's okay. So we got this scripture here and the context is what was going on in Isaiah's day and then Isaiah tells this king, here's how you're going to know that God's got you. And he speaks of this future. The virgin will get will conceive and then give birth to a son. They'll call him a manual. God with us. And that's picked up 700 years later by Matthew was saying this is confirmation of who Jesus is when he is born. So make the leap with me like what's the bridge to help us get from where we were back in Isaiah's day to where we would be in Jesus day. Seven centuries later. Yeah. And so I look at it as both and is that there's going to be a child born in this time is assigned to a has in the community of Israel. But also this future promise of the coming Messiah and many of people that the Jewish leadership. Sometimes people look at this because the term that's translated virgin in Isaiah seven, the Hebrew term. I think it's yam. If I remember correctly, it's been a while since I had Hebrew, but it means young lady, not necessarily relating to a virgin. It can. What's interesting there, though, is that they took it as a messianic promise. And so the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew, which came hundreds of years later. So near to the time of Christ, they translated it as virgin in the Greek. And so they saw or they believed at least that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. So they had that hope that was that they were talking about how much of this do you think sunk into good old King has little. That would be my guess. Um, you know, I mean, even from the standpoint of Isaiah telling a has giving a has the freedom to say, Hey, ask for a sign and a has kind of falling back on his understanding of the law that I will not put the the Lord, you know, to the test. And is even as Isaiah is God is graciously reaching out to a has he still resistant. He's still in disobedient, even in the presence of God's grace to whom. Tough question. How much of it do you think sunk into Isaiah in the moment? That I can't. Yeah, I can't. Yeah, I can't tell you there. There are aspects to Isaiah where clearly, you know, when you get to Isaiah 53, which I know we're going to be preaching on but it is it's so, uh, the the the text itself is so, uh, Messianic. Um, as it is, it talks about the coming suffering servant that I have to imagine that in that context, Isaiah knew exactly where those words were, were directed to who those words were being spoken of. But yeah, there, there are aspects to the prophetic word because there's so many different places in Isaiah and in Jeremiah where there's the immediate context and the immediate context is applying not only to that time, but also to a future time. I mean, there are parts of Isaiah that aren't just the prophetic parts of prophetic future parts where it's not just speaking of Jesus's first advent, but pointing to his second advent. Um, and so yeah, I don't, it's hard to know exactly what's in the mind of the prophet or his full understanding of what God has given him to speak. Yeah, as we're on the other side of Jesus. So it seems obvious, at least to me, right, but in the moment, you know, maybe not so, not so easy, not so obvious. This great prophetic promise is there through Isaiah that the Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and call him Emmanuel. And it goes on in chapter seven, verse 15, he will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings. You dread will be laid waste, and that was true. Israel was conquered, not too long after this. The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father, a time unlike any since he from, that is Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria, which we the ones that conquered Israel. So it kind of moves back and forth from this future time to present time to future time to present time, but all weaved in there is the promised Messiah. So there's, there's some thinking that has you have to do when you read prophets like Isaiah. Yeah, and then chapter nine, he goes on and let's just take a look at that for a few minutes. Again, it's like this moving in and out. In chapter nine, verse one, nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past, he humbled the land of Xebulun and the land of Naftli. But in the future, he will honor Galilee, so you're paying attention. Okay, Galilee, that's not the name of one of the twelve tribes on a Galilee of the nations by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan and so you think, okay, what's going on in Galilee? Well, Galilee, we know to be the region that would be re-established in the north. He had in Jesus' day Galilee was in the north, Samaria was in the middle, and Judea was in the south, former Judah became Judea. So sort of Israel became Galilee, not completely because part of it was Samaria. So there's going to be this honor that's taking place there. And then we get a lot of really common language that, again, we become familiar with at Christmastime with Jesus, the people, verse two, Isaiah 9, 2, the people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy. They rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of millions defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. It sounds like a lot of dramatic stuff going on, and we're trying to feel like what's happening politically in all of this. And then we get to these verses, which I don't say we pull them completely out of context when we read them at Advent time, the season in preparation for Christmas. But it helps to see like there's a lot of political things that he's talking about during that time and in future times. And it's an Isaiah 9, 6, 4 to us, a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness. From that time on and forever, the zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. All right, Ben. So we have another one of these passages that's like present time, future time, and prophetic time. How do we get from there to here when we recognize that this is prophetic about Jesus? I think reading the New Testament in the context of the Old Testament and how Jesus himself identifies himself. Oftentimes, what we might see is repurposing the Old Testament, and yet we recognize even here that the Jewish mind would have seen this as a messianic text. And so of the coming anointed one, and what I love in the passage is like there is this back and forth between the word spoken in the past tense and in the future. And so it's like Isaiah, God saying through Isaiah, this is as good as already done, and yet it's still to come. And so as the language flows, you notice the shift between, again, this past tense, which is obviously a prophetic word for the future because it's a future promise to a land that is existing in what we would qualify as darkness that the anointed one, when the Messiah will come and even positioning him in Galilee in that region. And so, yeah, I mean, I look at this and it's such an obvious pointing to the coming Messiah with the messianic language and how Christ is clearly the fulfillment of it. Jesus clearly said that he didn't come to abolish anything, he came to fulfill it. And so we see his fulfillment of all of Old Testament history, all of Old Testament prophecy, all of Old Testament wisdom. As we're going through this this year, hopefully, those who are doing it with us can see these deep, deep ties between the old covenant and the new covenant between the Hebrew scripture and the Christian scripture, we can see like Jesus in all of it, and it's really, it's really fun, isn't it? I love doing it. Yeah, and like I've shared before, you know, as someone who at one point, you know, thought this to all be a bunch of foolishness as it relates to Christ at one point, having been an atheist. But one of the things that really convicted my heart as I studied scripture and one of the things that has been a constant source of assurance in my relationship with Christ is how the puzzle pieces of scripture fit so perfectly together. I mean, it's utterly amazing to me and it shows God's divine hand upon the word. So when you, when you came to Christ early on, I mean, you were doing some, you dove in, if I remember writing. Yeah, you were kind of wet for it and you began to learn things and your mind opened up to it. Yeah, and I think some of that, I mean, sadly, I think that for some growing up in the church, which would have been, I mean, you know, in essence, I guess better by far, but growing up in the church sometimes has a dulling, effect I found on some folks. It shouldn't. I mean, it shouldn't at all. It should be where, where we're being nurtured into a deeper walk with, with Christ. And yet coming to faith a little bit later, I was so, I mean, my heart was so captured by all of it. Like I couldn't put the word down and maybe some of it was I felt like I needed to play catch up with my peers who were, who were believers who it seemed to have exited the womb as Christians and maybe some of it was, you know, and being integrated into that, into that community of brothers and sisters in Christ wanting and needing to play catch up, but I was absolutely enthralled in it. And so like daily, I just could not put the word down and encountering scripture with, in some ways, kind of with new eyes from the standpoint of it was also foreign to me that when questions arose, I was always asking questions. And so there was a guy at Greg Ward in the church where I accepted Christ. He had just graduated seminary and was working, I think, for Wycliffe Bible translation at the time. But he had a small group, a little Bible study he led for college age students. And I just absolutely, he probably felt like it was a constant ordination exam because I constantly grilled Greg with questions because I wanted to know. And so there was a constant desire to ask questions of the text to ask questions of what I was reading. And, you know, I think sometimes, sadly, especially among some who maybe grew up in the church or there's just like an unwillingness to ask questions when we're confronted by them. And I'm like, that's the way to deeper knowledge, to deeper understanding and God bless Greg because he never once looked at me and been like, just, you know, I just told, you know, I just told you stop asking me questions or, you know, you just have to take it on faith or however it might be. He really kind of dove in and was willing to be patient and answer the questions that I had, even admitting sometimes, man, I don't have an answer to that question. But yeah, I think we all need a Greg in our lives and we all maybe then need to become a Greg for someone else and let them ask questions and us not have the answers and dive in and learn and grow. And that's been our hope this year, really these three years as we've gone through all of scripture now, bit by bit, is the dive in and learn and see what it has to say. So Isaiah has a bunch of say about things in his day and about these messianic prophecies which came came true in Jesus and we also have an Isaiah 11, the root of Jesse that becomes their Isaiah 40 prepare away in the wilderness. And so there's a lot in Isaiah that we can look at and say, okay, what is God up to here and how did Jesus feel that full, how did he fulfill that in life. So that's our hope is that everyone who is listening can make an effort to dive in and see these great connecting points with scripture. Anything else you got there for us today, brother? All right, well then, we'll, we'll the sign up today next week, we'll take a look at the prophet, Hosea, and you think you have it tough in your family. Just wait for eyes. Hosea, that is. He's he's got a dysfunctional family with a capital D. So we'll take a look at him. In the meantime, if you want to jump in deeper, go to our church's website, Fishers, UMC.org, click on the be God's light link. If you want to stay up to date with the be God's light podcast, we encourage you to follow and to rate wherever you get your podcasts. Until next time, the Lord's blessing be with you. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
Mark Ellcessor and Ben Greenbaum look at the Prophet Isaiah, who prophesied that birth of Jesus 700 years before He was born.